From the Chair of the Parish Council

I’m currently preparing for the Annual Parish Meeting which is the one where various voluntary groups get together to report on their activities and exchange ideas. It’s a very energising meeting as the reports are always full of good news about events and ongoing activity which leave one astonished at the quality and strength of work going on in the parish. There are also a lot of groups for one small parish! Chairing the meeting is an absolute joy!

In doing my preparation I’m thinking of my own report on behalf of the council and thought I would share some of it with you in this publication. As the council has come to the end of its first cycle under the new legislation, it’s a summary of its work over the past four years. Most of it is well known, but is worth repeating here for the record.

We have tried hard to be open and transparent in our dealings and have made special efforts to communicate clearly and well. We contribute to the Sunningwell Scene on a regular basis and ensure all our minutes are displayed on the notice boards. These also appear on our website together with other forms of documentation such as the annual budget and copies of other papers supporting what we do. We have always made it clear we have been willing to receive telephone calls or emails as well.

(As an aside, because of the existence of the website I was approached via email by a young woman whose grandfather was billeted as a child evacuee in “Glebe House” and who was baptised in the church as he hadn’t been christened and the locals of the time insisted he should be! He also worked the pump for the organ during services. He hasn’t been back since the 1950’s and she is planning to bring him out here again to revisit past times. It took me a little time to work out that “Glebe House” is what is now known as the Old Rectory comprising a number of flats. I hope to meet the gentleman when he comes and will let you know how the visit went in the next Sunningwell Scene.)

To return to business…..I’m proud that the council tackled a number of environmental issues over its lifetime. We have encouraged good husbandry on hedges and ditches, have organised some necessary tree surgery and have tried to keep the pond as tidy and pleasant as possible. In the early days we planted daffodils about the parish. A lot of work has gone into activity promoting flood prevention by both maintenance of current conduits and significant drainage works gained through working carefully with the Vale and the Highways Authority. We have been careful to allow new signage to appear only where necessary and in appropriate colours. On top of all this we have employed a litter warden who has made a significant difference to the general tidiness of the whole parish. We have done our best to ensure that pot holes in the roads have been mended quickly and efficiently, but this appears to have become a running task and will continue to feature as an issue for the new parish council for some time to come.

Another issue which never goes away is planning. We have dealt with the everyday applications for planning permissions of various kinds (and we’ve had lots over four years) with as much efficiency as possible and we have made every effort to be fair and communicative with all those involved. We have had some very difficult applications to consider, and have always endeavoured to make decisions in the best interests of the parish as a whole. The other issue which is not likely to go away is the possible development of six thousand or so houses in the parish. This we have opposed with vigour at every opportunity and have worked as closely as possible with SPADE, other parishes and Oxford Green Belt Network as well as other relevant bodies, including SEERA. I feel very proud that we contributed something towards preventing this development so far and I’m sure we’ll all do what we can in future to oppose such moves as and when they re-emerge, as they surely will.

We have continued to enjoy a good relationship with the Village Hall Management Committee and have been pleased to help when we could with funding to support their remarkable refurbishing programme. We have done the same very willingly with the Summer Fete, The Summer Festival (Proms on the Pond) Bayworth Hall, The Children’s Play Area, The Cricket Club, the Art School and many other thoroughly worthwhile groups operating in the parish, and from whom we will no doubt hear at the Annual Meeting. These groups, including “action groups” such as SPADE, are the life blood of our community and we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their work and continued existence. Without them we would have no presence in the wider community where we could so easily find ourselves ignored or neglected.

In order to channel your support for these activities through the parish council we have to manage our finances prudently. This I think we have done in no small degree. Careful management together with thorough debate of the issues has allowed us to make reasonably wise decisions and fund them through a workable budget. I’m very proud of the fact that official audits have found all our dealings commendable in this area. We have also been active in trying to sort out the few assets of the parish council and bring about some order to our asset management. This has not reached a final conclusion, but much headway has been made.

So; a positive report from me. You will have your own views, of course, but I have to say I am quite sincerely proud of the achievements of the retiring parish council. None of this would have been achieved without the enormous amount of work done by all the various councillors past and present. They have attended sometimes quite long meetings, gone about their business in all weathers throughout the parish, written reports, letters, emails, notes, communicated with other parishioners, the Vale, the County Council, SEERA etc. etc. They have represented you by attending other people’s meetings, by making representations verbally at committee meetings on behalf of the parish. They have had to exercise judgement, make decisions, work as a team, ensure things have got done, be prepared to think and act beyond the conventional. And they have been helped by a quite exceptional Clerk who has advised and supported all of us in the most exemplary manner.

I am delighted to be able to write in this vein and end by thanking most sincerely our clerk and my fellow councillors for their long term support and unfailing good humour. I also offer the very best of good wishes to the new councillors and clerk who will take us all forward into the future where, with any luck, the issues will not be too painful or too numerous to resolve.

A fond farewell and best wishes to all my readers!

Bob Nichol

Chair, Sunningwell Parish Council